The Department of Basic Education says it will be ready to fully launch the General Education and Training Certificate (GETC) in 2025 which will recognise learners' achievements at the end of the compulsory schooling phase in grade 9. This will be a level 1 qualification on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

The department says the first pilot which was launched a few years ago has been very useful in determining if this was the right thing to do. Spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga explained that they need to make sure that their teachers, learners and most importantly parents fully understand the true intentions of the certificate. "It's really not about school leaving but it's about giving young people an opportunity to look at themselves in terms of strengths and weaknesses and the career choices that they need to make in their lives." Mhlanga said, adding that they found that this move is important and needed, therefore they've upscaled the pilot to a thousand schools this year in preparation for the full launch in 2025. "The previous pilot has given us some valuable lessons not only from the learners' point of view but also from the educational system. As a department we needed to assess the usefulness of it once a learner has obtained the certificate and what they can do with it. We are proceeding with the work that needs to be done."

Mhlanga said the certificate is not meant for job seeking but is rather a career pathing certificate that will enable one to understand what it is they can do as a career. "However, if it happens that you are in grade 9 and wish to go work somewhere, the employer will know what you are capable of doing because you will go through an assessment which is credible through the system. It'll give you an opportunity to go and do whatever it is that you want to do in general careers in the practical fields such as electrical and upholstery. We've introduced 39 new subjects in the curriculum which give learners an option that they don't necessarily have to follow the academic path or go to university. They could follow different paths that will still enable them to acquire a qualification but one that is matching their interests and the world of work," he said. According to Mhlanga, the expected introduction of the GETC in 2025 would ensure that every young South African leaves the schooling system with a national certificate, noting that currently, hundreds of students drop out of the school system annually without a qualification, which hinders them from finding jobs.